Tuesday, February 16, 2010

all things swellas some of you may know, i have a 9 year old sister named ella. i've even blogged about her a few times, which she loves. anyway, she just recently started her own blog called all things swell! she was really excited about the idea of her own blog, and wanted me to help her with the design right away. as ella puts it, her blog is all about "ella's thoughts on the world." ella is completely hilarious and equally clever, so make sure to check it out!

second winter break!2009-2010 school year: the year we got two winter breaks! the 55.6 inches of snow got us to miss school from the middle of friday, february 5 to the late morning of tuesday, february 16! i guess this makes up for the horrid power loss.

you know, without school, it is really hard to know what day it is. monday? thursday? who knows. honestly, it was getting quite boring at home. and, from the looks of facebook updates, my friends agreed. but, now that i'm back at school, i wish school was still canceled. why must my mind work like this?

Sunday, February 7, 2010

imagine being trapped in the house with 2 feet of snow outside. not too bad: got the food in the fridge, got the heater, got the internet and got the time-consuming mario kart wii. but, imagine being trapped in the house with 2 feet of snow outside... with no electricity or heat. really bad. i am currently writing this in my journal, but when i actually post this on my blog, the electricity would have finally taken mercy on us. i might freeze to death, making this my last blog, ever. in our own house i am wrapped in 2 jackets, a blanket, my xmas booties, and my oh-so warm PJs, and still suffering majorly (overwhelming boredom also contributes to this). my mom says it's like the refrigerated section of the grocery store. i dread the refrigerated section of the grocery store.

what's even worse is the fact that my dad is currently basking in the hot thai sun as we huddle together like eskimos in alaska. i envy him. mom says she envies anyone with electricity. why go to thailand now, dad?? leaving mom to dig us out of one of the top 5 snowstorms in D.C. (ever).

my mom suggested that i write this contest essay now, with the topic: my special day. i would think that impossible right now. my imagination is not that good.

on the bright side, this is the best part of the day (and that's saying a lot because this is a pretty bad part of the day). why? because in 2 hours, the sun is going to set, leaving us in, not just a hiemal igloo, but a dark hiemal igloo. off to put on a scarf, a hat, and gloves and huddle in my bed under an extensive number of blankets. feel fortuitous that you aren't us.

from the eskimos of cabin john, md

ps. you can thank flocabulary for my newfound interest in big words.

15 or so minutes later

mom just called baltimore gas and electric (which ended up to not be our company). the automatic message that came up said it could be like this for several days. yes, you heard right: several days. they said 80,000 people are having "problems" and 47,000 people have been helped. oh joy! way to bring our hopes down into the gutters, baltimore gas and electric

3 or so hours later

while outside shoveling snow with mom (hoping desperately to distract myself), ella knocked on the window with an urgent expression. she came to the door and told us the power came on! yippee! a swell of joy and relief overcame us. i couldn't wait to crank up the thermostat, eat something warm, and play some mario kart! but that small flicker of hope quickly vanished one minute later when our home was once again a deep hole of darkness and sadness (and to remain so for who knows how long). mom said that they probably fixed the electricity in some places (including ours) but can't turn it on until is completely fixed. *frowns* my mom then proceeded to raise my hopes even more by telling us the horrors of post-hurricane isabel where they lost power for a week. me and ella were lucky though, and got to stay with our babysitter in chevy chase where there was power. not the case here. *sighs heavily*

1 or so hours later

so here i am, sitting at the dining room table, holding a flashlight overhead. mom is down in the basement getting more batteries for the flashlights. i feel like we are back in the dark ages, living in a hut in the woods with only candles for light and books for entertainment. that is not a good image. luckily we have a stove fireplace!! but mom's too afraid of fire to make one with dad away. a sad tale. a very sad tale. now with nothing to do... off to dinner and then then the crazily cold bed.

from an eskimo, depressed in the dark.

February 7, 2010

7:00 am

morning: reporting from the igloo formally known as our house. i was so depressed last night that i was asleep by 7:30 pm. to say i slept badly last night would be a major understatement. ella compared last night to camping. under a sheet, 2 down comforters, and 4 blankets, the bed was still ice cold.

i think that our house is now literally like fridge. if you move your head on the pillow, you will most positively wake up from the chilly shock of the ice cold pillow. if you leave a glass of water on the bedside table, in the morning, it is ice water. yesterday when shoveling, a bunch of snow got into my jacket pockets. this morning, when i put my jacket on, the snow was still fully intact in the pockets. on the bright side (note that it is very hard to be positive right now) our vast storage of refrigerated food will be okay in our refrigerator-like house.

now, we are contemplating whether or not we should get a nearby hotel room. our grandparents are coming tonight and staying for more than a week, and we would never wish this pain and suffering on anyone. i must now sit on my almost immobile hand to avoid frostbite.

we, who are on the verge of death, barely holding on, salute you.

4 or so hours later

within the last 4 or so hours i have found out many things. 1. my dad booked us a hotel that's right in rockville (with free wi-fi, i'm hoping) even though he's in thailand. 2. our grandparents' flight is delayed for the 2nd time, until tuesday. all is good. i spent the last hour outside sitting on the front of the car diligently scraping the tiny pieces of ice off the windshield as i talked to my mom who was working hard shoveling. now, i'm sitting in bed, with ella leeched to my side like she usually is, waiting for my toes to defrost. the suitcase is open, on the floor, calling to me. i'm off to pack for our "trip" to rockville.

from a somewhat satisfied eskimo.

5:09 pm

why is there now a specific time, you ask? WE ARE IN PANERA! not only is it light and warm, there is also wi-fi! after 2 days stuck in a cold and dark house, it's amazingly comforting to be here. it's really warm; strangely warm actually. is it that we are used to the cold or that it is overly heated? who knows. all i know is that i feel warm-hearted and smiley.

from a completely satisfied eskimo.

7:47 pm

the hotel room is awesome! being here is a trillion times better than being at home. it is warm inside while it is cold outside, it is light inside while it is dark outside. i don't know what i would do without my good ol' pal, electricity. at the moment, ella is calling me to watch a movie, so bye for now! :)

February 8, 2010

10:27 am

ahh... warm bed, warm clothes, warm water... life is good. mom just went out and got us deliciously warm doughnuts (i love mom). now we are comfortably eating doughnuts on the bed while watching cash cab on the discovery channel. we have called the house 3 times, and every single time, it rang more than once!! could we possibly have power after 4 days? i hope so! we are going to check out soon.

from an overly happy girl (not eskimo)

1:00 pm

we checked out of the hotel this morning, and now we are at home! the home temperature was only 51 degrees (even after being warmed up for a few hours). right away, i turned on all of the space heaters. then, with one of the space heaters on high next to us, we played mario kart wii! happy, happy, happy! off to the mall for some shopping, and then to dinner!

from people with power!

8:33 pm

both you and i thought that this long journey was finally over. sadly, we were wrong. as driving home from our night out, we were slightly suspicious... some houses were pitch dark and the street lights were out. we thought, "arg! our power can't be out." but, after the long and dark trek down our icy driveway, we found that it was, indeed, out (again). we were all in tears, packing our things, thinking about how we thought it was all over and solved. back to the hotel we went. i suppose it's better than freezing to death at home.

from the very disappointed family

9:39 pm

this really is a series of unfortunate events. you will not believe me when i tell you this: mom just called home, and supposedly, the phone rang more than once. i guess the power is on, once again *clenches teeth and pulls out hair.* wonderful timing, mr. electricity. mom thinks that we should just stay put, though. we probably won't get our $205 back for the night at the hotel, and going back and forth is making us completely lethargic.

i would say i'm a generally positive person, but it is impossible to be positive right now. this has to be one of the worst times of my life, and i'm not being overly dramatic. within the last four days, i have cried 5 times more than i have smiled. every time i think something has gone right, it goes wrong again. i can't feel motivated to do, no matter how hard i try. i must say, i'm proud of myself for having the dedication to blog in this time of horror and depression. really.

from a depressed blogger on the verge of another breakdown

February 9, 2010

3:14 am

hopefully what happened yesterday does not repeat itself today. the power should be on for good. not is. should. they really should stop turning it on and off. mom, me and ella all feel depressed and we all have some sort of headache or migraine. mom is outside trying to shovel out the 2/3 of the driveway still left to shovel. ella is playing time trials on mario kart wii. i am blogging. it seems that we are all relatively satisfied. i ask the dumb people at pepco to leave the power on! thank you.

from a blogger feeling cynical

4:51 pm

ok. i'm convinced that the power is on for good! now we are off to go shopping (again). by now, i'm sure you have caught onto our theory about depression. when depressed, shop. it's a true and tested fact. ella wants new shoes.